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TRACING THE TRIBE: THE JEWISH GENEALOGY BLOG



Tracing the Tribe is a blog about Jewish genealogy - All the developments,
tools and resources you'll need to peer more closely into your family tree.
Created in 2006 at JTA's request, it is now independent.






28 NOVEMBER 2009


DNA: LOEB FAMILY, MAHARAL OF PRAGUE


Tracing the Tribe first met Herb Huebscher of New York in connection with his
WIRTH DNA project at FamilyTreeDNA.com, which is a story in itself.

You may remember that project as the one that genetically matched Litvaks and
Galizianers, and then matched them to a Sephardic family in Puerto Rico. Talk
about an identity crisis!

He is now involved in another fascinating DNA project, that of the Loeb family
and the MaHaRal of Prague.

Herb recently started a research project to identify paternal line descendants
of the rabbinical Loeb family - which includes the renowned MaHaRaL of Prague,
his brother Rabbi Sinai and Rav Gabriel Eskeles.

(NOTE: As soon as Tracing the Tribe saw the name ESKELES, I knew I had seen it
before. Checking my copy of Pere Bonnin's Sangre Judia, I found ESCALES listed
as a name on a 1490 document from Mallorca, Balearic Islands. Stranger things
have happened. Tracing the Tribe loves DNA!)

A known descendant of the family - Zeev Eshkolot - was Y-DNA tested by
FamilyTreeDNA.com. Then, persons already in the company's database - who are
close matches to Eshkolot - were identified. They appear to be descendants of
the Loeb ancestral line. The newly formed MaHaRal Group now has some 27 persons.

According to Herb, the group has now dsicovered the ancestral Y-DNA of the Loeb
family and are beginning to form a DNA-based family tree of the family.

The group is now asking others to participate. If you (or someone you know) is
in one of the following categories, you may want to learn more about the
project:



> -- You know or believe you're a MaHaRal or Loeb family descendant, or
> 
> -- You don't know, but would like to find out if you may be such a descendant.

The second category includes persons with the Loeb surname or any of its many
variations used historically by family members, such as Loeb, Loew, Loewe,
Loewy, Löw, Löwe, Lowy, Lavi, Levai and Eskeles.

Remember that most modern surnames in Europe were not adopted until around 1800,
so you may still be a descendant even if your surname doesn't resemble those
listed. So far, reports Herb, most participants have seemingly unrelated
surnames.

To learn more about the MaHaRaL Group or participate in the project, contact
Herb. He looks forward to hearing from all interested parties.

Who was the Maharal of Prague? Rabbi Judah ben Bezalel Lowe (5285-5369;
1525-1609) was likely born in Posen and became famous as a Talmudic scholar very
early. He took the position of Rabbi in Nikolsburg (Mikulov), Moravia, in his
late 20s and remained there for some 20 years. He was most famous as the head of
the Prague Jewish community, then the center of Central European Jewry. He
established the Talmudic academy known as the Klaus. Burned some 80 years after
Lowe died, it was rebuilt as the Klaus Synagogue.

His secular knowledge of science made him famous among non-Jews, and he was a
friend of astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, who introduced him to
Emperor Rudolph II. Legend says that the emperor visited the rabbi at night to
discuss politics and science.

The most famous story, however, about the MaHaRal was the creation of the Golem
from clay, which protected the Prague community. Read more about him here.

Wikipedia states that there is a tradition that the MaHaRal's family descends
from the Babylonian Exilarchs and that they are a Davidic Dynasty family.

For more information on the Loeb family tree, compiled by Dr. Daniel Loeb, visit
LoebTree.com, and see an article about the family here.

Posted by SCHELLY TALALAY DARDASHTI at 1:00 AM


Labels: DNA, Family History, FamilyTreeDNA, Genetics, Jewish Heritage, Jewish
History

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ABOUT ME

Schelly Talalay Dardashti has tracked her family history through Belarus,
Russia, Lithuania, Spain, Iran and elsewhere. A journalist, her articles on
genealogy have been widely published. In addition to genealogy blogging (since
2006), she speaks at Jewish and general genealogy conferences, co-founded
GenClass.com. Past president of the five-branched JFRA Israel, a Jewish
genealogical association, she is a member of several professional organizations.
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